Grooms questions government limitations

Some South Carolina lawmakers want to make it illegal for someone to smoke in a vehicle with a child six or under in the car with them. Berkeley Senator Larry Grooms says he doesn’t see the law passing–

That idea has been around for a while. It keeps getting batted around, and it’ll come back again. I remember the arguments last year: Well, what about someone that is driving around with the top open?

Not only do some lawmakers say smoking can be a distraction for drivers, they also say the law is needed to protect the health of children under the age of six. Grooms says drivers have many other distractions too, but government needs to know when to draw the line. He says enough is enough when it comes to limited government–

Where does it end? Our roads need to be safe, but to protect people from themselves is not the purpose of government. Those who stand on the side of liberty are going to stand up and say, ‘enough of this.’ We are becoming a nation our founders could not even conceive of.

Grooms says smoking is not the root of the issue, it’s the purpose and extent of government.

We’re throwing it all away because there’s a group of people that believe that they know better than others on how they should live their lives, and these things are common sense.

The law is up for debate this week. If passed, violators would be fined $25.